"Hurting India's Self-Respect": Minister On Rahul Gandhi's China Remark

Responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent critical remarks against the central government on foreign shores, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda today said that the Wayanad MP is trying to cover the fact that he has been spurned by the people of India.

"Whenever an Indian goes to a foreign land, he feels proud while describing the features of the country and his chest swells with pride that he is born in India. But people like Rahul Gandhi give such statements," the BJP leader said, adding that this is an attempt by the Congress leader to cover the fact that he has been rejected by the people of India.

He also alleged that Rahul Gandhi is trying to defame his own land and that he is hurting India's respect and self-respect.

"I think Rahul's speech in itself shows that he has nothing to do with the country's self-respect," the Union Minister said.

Referring to recently concluded Assembly polls in three northeastern states, wherein the BJP and its allies formed the government by trouncing Congress, the minister said that the results of the Tripura elections are a lesson for such leaders.

Retorting to Rahul Gandhi's remarks on S Jaishankar over China, Mr Munda said there was no need for the Congress leader to give such statements.

"India is not weak but if we are trying to increase India's strength and we are telling the countrymen that we have to increase our strength further, then what is the need to give such statements," he said.

Recently, in a conversation with members of the Indian Journalists' Association in London, Rahul Gandhi said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar does not understand the China threat.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)